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St. Cloud State University
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Hold'em restricted on campus
By Chad Eldred
Published:
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Media Credit: Matthew Kaster
SCSU students (from left to right) Andrew Tuchowski, Molly Hansen, Kyle Peterson, Jonathan Fults and Darla Schnellert play a game of Texas Hold´em in the comfort of Fults´ apartment. The State has advised SCSU to discontinue any games of chance pending legislative measures this session.
One of the fastest growing card games in the country has now been restricted on the campus of SCSU. The recent raid of the Granite Bowl, due to their conduction of Texas Hold'em tournaments, has shined a spotlight on the game, and has led to new legislative proposals and the end of the game at SCSU.
Margo Thomas, director for CSOLD (Center for Student Organizations & Leadership Development), said that the raid made the university look into its own practices to determine whether or not they were following the laws of the state.
"We are responding to the raid that happened last summer to the bowling alley," Thomas said. "In the past, UPB has done some casino nights and we did some investigation to find out if we were in violation or not and we found out that we have been."
Thomas said that she received her information from the Attorney General and since they are the lawyers for the university, the guidelines they set are the ones that SCSU must follow.
"We checked with the Attorney Generals' office about what the impact was on the university and what we can and cannot do," Thomas said. "And we were told that we can't do chance games or casino nights."
Even when money or prizes are not involved, Thomas said that she was still advised that the game was illegal. She also said that she has now warned student organizations about the legality issues surrounding Texas Hold'em tournaments and the consequences of breaking the rules.
"My job is to tell them about the laws," Thomas said. "We can't advise them to do things that are breaking Minnesota laws. And they are putting themselves at risk if they choose to go that way anyway."
The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) recently had their Texas Hold'em tournament shut down because of the new regulations. Member Mitch Bain said that the tournament was going to be used to promote academic honesty.
"Our last event was a game night, which would have had board games and the big thing was Texas Hold'em," Bain said. "We would have handed out chips and there were going to be prizes given out to everyone."
Bain said that the elimination of Texas Hold'em from their game list had a huge impact on their attendance numbers.
"That was going to be our big event to get people to come," Bain said. "And once word got out that it got cancelled, not one person showed up. It is tough enough to try to get kids into student organizations and when they took Texas Hold'em away, we couldn't bring anyone in."
Bain said that he does not understand the logic behind canceling a game that is played with good intentions and is enjoyed by many people.
"I don't know why you can't play a card game, as long as you aren't playing for money or prizes, because what is the difference between this and the Cribbage tournament that SCSU holds every semester?" Bain said. "It is kind of tough to get a lot of people to come on campus to play Monopoly."
The Granite Bowl raid that sparked the university into action may have been a big misunderstanding by the state, said owner David Bischoff.
"I think the state thought that there was actually money being played under the table and they thought it was a money poker game," Bischoff said. "They couldn't believe that I could get 50 people to play poker for free."
Bischoff said that he had received warnings from the state to discontinue his tournaments but he refused. He said when the state dropped its charges against the Granite Bowl, it confirmed what he believed from the beginning.
"Technically, the free poker tournaments are not illegal according to state law," Bischoff said. "I had five attorneys tell me that with no entry fee, there really is no betting and that is essentially what the county attorney also found."
Bischoff said that he hopes the laws will be cleared up because currently there is a lot of confusion surrounding the games.
To help solve this problem, Minn. Sen. Dave Kleis-R, St. Cloud, has introduced new legislation regarding Texas Hold'em, which he hopes will make the issue more understandable.
"The law is vague," Kleis said. "So my bill is making it very clear that anywhere in the state you can hold the Texas Hold'em tournaments if you follow the same criteria as we do for the other tournaments. This would legalize Texas Hold'em tournaments in any bowling alley, bar or any other type of establishment but they can only have prizes up to $200, which is currently what we allow for cribbage and other types of card game tournaments."
Kleis said that he was shocked when he heard about the Granite Bowl raid and said that the state should be concerning itself with more important issues.
"I was very upset that there was a raid," Kleis said. "It was a tremendous waste of resources to raid a Texas Hold'em tournament. The Department of Public Safety ordered the raid and said they were holding an illegal tournament even though they were just giving away prizes, such as the legislation allows."
To gain support for his legislation and to prove that the game is honest and fun, Kleis invited his fellow legislators to a tournament that was conducted at the raided Granite Bowl.
"It was to show my colleagues that it was a harmless game and should not be something that is against the law," Kleis said. "It is skill. It is probability. It is being able to read people. It is a numbers game. It was a good demonstration to the folks that were there that this shouldn't be against the law and after we played, all of them are fully supportive of the bill."
Kleis said that the elimination of the tournament is pointless.
"I firmly believe that we should not be making criminals out of people playing a very popular game," Kleis said. "Outlawing or banning these tournaments anywhere in the state is wrong. It is a fun game and should be allowed."
A hearing on the bill is set for Wednesday and Kleis said because of bipartisan support, there is a good chance that the legislation will be passed. If the law is changed, Kleis said that the rules would apply to all institutions in Minnesota, including the campus of SCSU.
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